Tack-pulling device



Oct. 28 1924.

- 1,513,101 L. G. FREEMAN TACK PULLING DEVICE Filed June '7, 1922 Patented Get. 28, 1924.

LOUIS G. FREEMAN, OF CINCINNATI, 02116, ASSIGNOEL TO LOUIS G. FREEMAN AND CHARLES F. FREEMAN, AS TRUSTEES, BOTH OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

TACK-PULLING- DEVICE.

Application filed June 7,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS G. FREEMAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented an Improvement in TaclcPulling Devices, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My present invention relates to shoe machinery, and more particularly to a side tack pulling machine to be used in the manufacture of boots and shoes.

In the manufacture of boots and shoes of the welt type, the shoe structure is built up on a last with the upper drawn tightly about the inner sole and attached thereto by lasting tacks. Prior to the sewing operation, it is necessary to withdraw the lasting tacks so as to leave a clear path along which the sewing needle may pass, it being customary to either leave a few of the lasting tacks in position, or to redrive a few of those Withdrawn, these tacks being known as stay tacks, as they serve to hold the. upper in position until the completion of the sewing operation. Machines have been devised for withdrawing the lasting tacks and for redriving such of the lasting tacks as it is desired shall be retained as stay tacks, and a representative machine of this character is illustrated and claimed in my Patent No. 1,214:,908 of Feb. '0, 1917. The machine illustrated in such patent is very eflicient, but is designed to lift and redrive the stay tacks. There is a call for a machine to pull the side tacks only and not redrive any tacks, and the present machine is especially designed to meet this want.

The tendency in modern shoe factories is to dispense with, to as great an extent as possible, skilled labor, this being necessary if the cost of manufacture is to be kept within economic limits. A machine therefore, that is to find universal application in modern shoe plants, must be such as to be ei'ficiently operated by relatively unskilled labor, or, stated in another way, the machine must do the thinking for the operator.

In my present invention I have devised an improved form of tack lifter and guide there-for, which it is possible for an unskilled operator to use in withdrawing any number of lasting tacks desired, and by the 1922. Serial No. 563,524.

use of which the damaging of material in work is practically eliminated. Further, an unskilled operator can do more and better work with my vpresent invention than a skilled operator can do with the machine shown and described in my Patent No. 1,211,908, and above referred to.

My present invention may be utilized in the machine illustrated in said patent in place of the equivalent parts and in combination with the redriving mechanism therein shown, or may be used in an entirely new machine, or in any prior machine that is iapable of being modified to impart the movement to the tack lifter that is required for the successful operation thereof.

in the accompanying drawing illustrating the pre'ierred embodiment of my invena holder of a tack pulling machine, such as shown. in my Patent No. 1,214,908, and above referred to, and to the top surface of whicl'i holder is adjustably mounted, by screws 11, a guard 12. This guard 12 is formed of a plate, the forward end of: which is formed in a curved path 13, bounded on one side with a vertical wall li'that extends the full length of the curved path 13, and on the other side with a vertical wall 15 that extends to one side of a V-slot 16, one edge of whichthat nearest the holder 10-is perpendicular to the path of adjustment of such holder, while the other edge lies at an angle to such path. These guards 12 may be. made either right hand, as shown in Fig. 4:, to be used with a right hand tack lifter, or may be made left hand ed as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, for use with a left hand lifter.

The lifter is made either right or left hand, a left hand one being illustrated in the drawings and consists essentially of a shank portion 17 that is secured to a suitable carrier on the machine and the forward end of this shank portion terminates in a claw 18 provided with a plurality of teeth and the lower face of this claw 18 is curved to allow the teeth to come into close association with the curved path 13 of the guard 12, the movement of this claw 18 being a forward and lifting one, in such movement engaging and forcing the tack 19 in the shoe structure 20 against the most forward edge of the V-slot 16 and then upward, the upward movement resulting in withdrawing the tack.

In operation, the lasted shoe 20 is grasped by the operator, who guides the tacks successively into the V-slot 16, skipping, if he Wishes, any tack that it is desired to retain as a stay tack. The most forward edge of the V-slot l6 prevents the shoe from be ing forced out of position, relieving the strain on the operator; the lower surface of the curved path 13 acts as an anvil against which the shoe structure abuts as the tacks are withdrawn; while the V-slot 16 provides a guide into which the tacks may be fed successively and successfully to the lifter 17 by even the most unskilled operator.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In an improved tack pulling device, the combination of a guard, acurved path formed at one end thereof, a slot in said curved path and extending transversely of the length thereof, and means movable along said curved path and across the slot for withdrawing lasting tacks, from shoes.

2. in an improved tack pulling device, the combination of a guard, a curved path formed at one end thereof, side walls on each side ofsaid curved path, a slot in said curved path and extending transversely of the length thereof, and means movable along said curved path and across the slot for withdrmving lasting tacks from shoes.

in an iHlPIOVGCl tack pulling device, the combination of a guard provided with a slot intermediate its ends and extending transversely of the length of the guard, a curved path formed at one GDCiOf the guard and extending across the transverse slot, a side wall on the guard on one side. of the curved path and extending throughout the length of the curved path, a side wall on the opposite side of the guard and extend.- ing from the transverse slot rearwardly oi the curved path, and means movable along said curved path for withdrawing lasting tacks from shoes.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

LOUIS G. FREEMAN. 

